03-20-2006, 06:11 AM
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| Have crayon, will travel. ModeratorPWCToday.com Is My Home Away From Home
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: #1 Most Violent City In America!! Age: 40
Posts: 2,408
| 2005 saw record number of PWC tickets---(New York)
Quote:
Lake George Park Commission boat patrol officers wrote 19 percent more tickets to wayward boaters last year than in 2004, including a record number of tickets to personal watercraft operators.
Park Commission Lt. Joseph Schneider, who heads the agency's enforcement division, said boat accidents investigated by the commission dropped from 14 in 2004 to 12 last year.
"Overall, it was a pretty safe, routine year until the fall," he said.
The fall, of course, brought the Oct. 2 capsizing of the Ethan Allen tour boat near Cramer Point, which claimed 20 lives.
That tragedy has resulted in myriad legislation targeting the tour boat industry, and Schneider said it's unclear what enforcement role Park Commission officers will have in enforcing whatever new rules are imposed.
"We'll just have to wait and see what law changes are made and how they affect us," he said.
One new law that will result in more work for Park Commission boat patrol officers is a personal watercraft ban on the portion of the lake that lies in the village of Lake George. The ban, which takes effect this year, prohibits the machines in an area from just south of Tea Island to the lake's southern end.
Tickets to personal watercraft operators rose 11 percent last year, the majority of which were written to operators who did not have state-required certificates to operate the craft. All those who operate the Jet Ski- and Waverunner-type vehicles have to take a safe boating course.
The other big area of personal watercraft enforcement was tickets issued to those who travel faster than 5 mph within 500 feet of shore, though tickets for that offense dropped by nearly a third last year.
Boating accidents investigated by the commission held steady, with 12 handled last year, compared to 13 the year before.
The Park Commission's annual boat count found 19,913 boats on the lake, the sixth-highest total on record.
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